A conventional shovel, comprising a shaft that interconnects a hand grip and a blade, is relatively useful for shoveling. During use, a user generally holds the shovel by positioning one hand on the hand grip and the other hand along the shaft near the blade. The shovel is held in this manner throughout the shoveling process, which can be broken down into three distinct motions including: scraping (or digging), lifting, and throwing. As a consequence of holding the shovel near the blade, the user must repeatedly bend at the waist during the scraping motion and straighten while bearing the full load of the shovel during the lifting and throwing motions. Such repeated bending and straightening creates a great deal of stress on the user's back resulting in back injuries and premature fatigue.
In order to alleviate back injuries and to improve shoveling efficiency, it has been proposed that an auxiliary handle be connected to the conventional shovel. In one configuration, an auxiliary handle, including an auxiliary shaft and an auxiliary hand grip, is securely attached at a fixed angle to the shaft of the shovel. The angle and length of the auxiliary handle is selected so that, while shoveling, the auxiliary hand grip extends upwardly to approximately the height of the user's waist. As a result, the user may grasp the auxiliary hand grip without bending at the waist during the scraping motion. Although the two-grip configuration minimizes the need for bending and consequently, reduces the likelihood of back injury, the fixed positioning of the grips results in a very cumbersome throwing motion. The natural tendency is for the user's hands to move together during throwing, however, the fixed spacing between the hand grips inhibits such movement.
To improve the throwing motion, the auxiliary handle may be hinged to the shaft of the shovel, rather than securely fastened at a fixed angle to the shaft. This arrangement permits pivotal movement of the auxiliary shaft toward the shovel shaft so that the user's hands can move together during the throwing motion. Other auxiliary handle configurations utilize a spring connected between the shovel shaft and auxiliary shaft to bias the shafts together in order to further enhance the throwing motion.
A problem associated with hinged auxiliary shafts is that unrestricted pivotal movement can cause the user's hands to collide together. This situation is exacerbated by the configurations employing a spring to bias the shovel and auxiliary shafts together.
An additional problem with hinged auxiliary shafts is that, during scraping, the user must expend a great deal of effort to prevent pivotal motion of the auxiliary shaft relative to the main shaft. For optimal scraping or digging, it is desired that the auxiliary shaft remain fixed relative to the main shaft.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved auxiliary handle is provided for use with a conventional shovel. The use of the auxiliary handle, in accordance with the present invention, solves the problems associated with conventional shovels and prior auxiliary handles.